May is a favourite of mine, a genuine jazz vocalist who can illuminate and transform familiar themes in often quite startling ways. She won't just alight on a note; rather she'll brush past it on the way to somewhere more interesting. It's this sense of vocal derring-do that pleases one so much. She's heard here in duet with this harmonically advanced Italian pianist, the twosome making their way through a programme largely devoted to her interpretations of his compositions to which she has added lyrics, in French in one case. It is only fair to say that these interpretative journeys are worlds away from her more usual explorations, the interplay between the two participants quite unlike the familiar ‘vocalist plus accompanist’ template. The whole album speaks of mutual exploration and discovery, May's swooping sounds following the shape of the compositions as she feels her way while Pieranunzi takes the principal improvisatory role. His piano playing, always quite prominent in the mix, is simply superb, the keyboard dynamism and command of chordal variation quite stunning in places. Coe joins in on three pieces, his zigzag style at its most spikily effusive on ‘The Night Bird’, May's sometimes-shrill vocal lines thrusting in and out of the spaces left by Pieranunzi. Call this chamber jazz if you like, Wigmore Hall rather than the 606, you might say, with May generally more careful than carefree. Pieranunzi's is the stronger voice here.